Tie Guan Yin from Gan De Village in Anxi county was carefully picked and then roasted by hand over pine wood charcoal. The process is repeated many times until the tea has been heavily roasted and becomes almost black in color. The result is a highly aromatic tea that can be infused more than 10 times without losing much flavor. The tea soup is bright red in color and the taste is sweet and full with a kind of chocolately after-finish.

Legends

This tea has two legends behind it: Wei and Wang.

Wei legend

Deep in the heart of Fujian's Anxi County, there was a rundown temple which held an iron statue of Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Every day the on the walk to his tea fields, a poor farmer named Wei would pass by and reflect on the temple's worsening condition. "Something has to be done" he thought.

Being poor, Wei did not have the means to repair the temple. One day he brought a broom and some incense from his home. He swept the temple clean and lit the incense as an offering to Guanyin. "It's the least I can do," he thought to himself. And he did this twice a month for many months.

One night, Guanyin appeared to him in a dream, telling him of a cave behind the temple where a treasure awaited. He was to take the treasure and share it with others In the cave, the farmer found a tea shoot. He planted it in his field and nurtured it into a large bush, from which the finest tea was produced. He gave cuttings of this rare plant to all his neighbors and began selling the tea under the name Tieguanyin - Iron Bodhisattva of Compassion.

Over time, Wei and all his neighbors prospered; the rundown temple of Guanyin was repaired and became a beacon for the reigion. From this time onwards Mr. Wei took joy in the daily trip to his tea fields, never failing to stop in appreciation of the beautiful temple.

Wang legend

Wang was a scholar who accidentally discovered the tea plant beneath the Guanyin rock in Xiping. He brought the plant back home for cultivation. When he visited the Qianlong Emperor in the 6th year of his reign, he offered the tea as a give to his native village. The emperor was so impressed that he inquired about its origin. Since the tea was discovered beneath the Guanyin rock, he decided to call it the Guanyin tea.